


Cape and Cowl

by araxes



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gotham, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 00:28:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6351670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araxes/pseuds/araxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the fourth time that week the signal was lit up and Shaw was getting a little more than annoyed. It wasn’t to say she didn’t expect it with the whole technically being a superhero in the most crime-ridden city on several planets thing, it was that she just knew what the Commissioner was going to say when she got to the roof of the Gotham City PD.</p><p>“There’s been another break in, we suspect it was our hacker friend.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cape and Cowl

It was the fourth time that week the signal was lit up and Shaw was getting a little more than sick of it.

Which wasn’t to say she didn’t expect it with the whole _technically_ being a superhero in the most crime-ridden city on several planets thing, but there was a line and four callouts in one week was so far over the line it circled back thrice over.

It wasn’t that she was annoyed by her payless, thankless, exhausting, life-endangering job; it was that she just knew what the Commissioner was going to say when she got to the roof of Gotham PD.

“There’s been another break in, we suspect it was our hacker friend.”

Shaw frowned behind her mask. Of fucking course.

Not that she said that because according to her colleague (?), being a Bat meant having a reputation to uphold and swearing in front of Jim Gordon would sort of destroy their whole mysterious brooding thing. Instead she took the opportunity of him turning around to dive off the nearest ledge and glide gently to the alleyway where her motorbike was parked. She filled Gordon’s directions onto the bike’s GPS and glanced at the time.

_3:42am._

Fuck. She was going to look like shit at tomorrow’s party. Then again, most of Gotham already thought socialite Sameen Shaw had a drug problem so it could only help her cover. With a sigh, Shaw straddled the bike and toed the kickstand. She was getting too old for this shit.

* * *

Shaw pulled herself up less than gracefully onto the roof of the warehouse. Her arms still ached from last night’s action and she was feeling it now more than ever. Tiredly, she walked to an open skylight, taking in the interior of the building with a keen eye. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but with this new perp, everything turned out into a surprise. With the expectation of more pain on her aching limbs, Shaw jumped through the window and into the building, her cape stiffening and shifting her fall into a glide.

She landed on her knees, with a fist to the ground to steady herself (and because her legs went out just a little bit). Shaw took the moment of silence to stare at the ground and question whether she actually had to patience to deal with whatever she was going to have to deal with tonight.

A slow, condescending clap derailed that train of thought.

“What a beautiful superhero landing, I hear it’s hard on the knees.”

Shaw sighed and looked up to see _her,_ the perp who had resulted in twenty one callouts, three destroyed buildings, millions of dollars of stolen Reese-Tech, four Arkham breakouts, and no less than sixty traumatized victims, perpetrators and cops.

“Which is a shame because I do like to see you on your knees.”

The bane of Shaw’s existence, Root.

“Can you just put back whatever you stole this time? I’m genuinely tired of dealing with your shit.” Shaw said as she stood up and dusted off. Root began moving from her obviously staged position at the top of a staircase on the second floor of the building.

Usually, she’d be a bit more curt around criminals but Root was a special exception…

“Now don’t be like that. You know how important foreplay is, _Sameen_.”

Because of that.

Somehow Root had every detail of Shaw’s life figured out, greeting her _by name_ on their first meeting. She knew things that took Shaw months to learn herself, like the identity of her colleague and the identity of _his_ colleague, a guy that most people didn’t even know existed.

“Root, I’m gonna give you one chance…” She said.

“Wow the signature Bat-Growl, I feel so intimidated.” Root said in _her_ signature condescending tone as she climbed down the stairs.

Shaw caught the tail of a gun tucked into her belt and she could bet there was another one beside it. She cleared her throat and went back to her “normal” voice.

“No more games, Root. I’m taking you back to Arkham.” She said, grabbing at the stungun on her belt half-heartedly.

“You say that every time.” Root walked closer, she was within the range of the gun now.

“I mean it this time.” Shaw said, not meaning it at all.

“Well,” Root walked right into Shaw’s personal space, speaking almost into her mouth, “Should I expect the handcuffs?”

Shaw gulped, resisting the urge to close the gap between them. For a while, she though Root had created some sort of neurotoxin that drew idiots toward her like a bug to a light. When she tested for it, Root had somehow found out and made fun of her for days.

“What did you steal?” She asked instead.

Root’s eyes kept darting from Shaw’s camouflaged eyes to her blood-red lips.

“Some computer parts from Decima,” She whispered, “they didn’t need them.”

“Root.”

“And She asked for them.”

And there it was. The alarms that rang out “BEWARE: INSANE SUPERVILLIAN WHO DOES THE BIDDING OF AN ARTIFICIAL SUPERINTELLIGENCE SHE BELIEVES TO BE GOD”, the ones that reminded Shaw of what Root really was and what Shaw really was and how completely fucked up what she was doing was.

Unfortunately, it was also the alarms Shaw usually hit the snooze on.

Shaw grabbed at Root’s leather jacket and brought their lips together in a hurried kiss. She deepened the kiss as she reached for Root’s waist, muffling Root’s moan with her tongue and slyly pulling free the gun tucked in Root’s pants. Root herself was either too distracted by the kiss or too preoccupied with trying to find any skin that wasn’t covered by Shaw’s body armor; she settled with pawing at Shaw’s neck as Shaw dismantled the first gun behind her back, dropping it and reaching for the second.

“Wait.”

Root pulled away suddenly, her lips bruised and her eyes completely unfocused as she tilted her head. Shaw raised an eyebrow and dismantled the second gun, dropping the pieces on the floor. Root didn’t usually interrupt their meetings unless it was something extremely important that involved either impending bullets or her god. Shaw waited to hear which it would be.

“Your robot overlord calling you back?” Shaw said, a little salty about being left high and dry.

Root smirked, her head still tilted like she was listening to something. It took Shaw a few meetings (and getting Root completely naked and vulnerable) to realize she had an implant and the thought of Root intentionally deafening herself for her god always sobered Shaw up.

“She needs me downtown.” Root said, bending down to pick up the pieces of her gun.

“To do what?” Shaw grumbled as she straightened her mask, annoyed but genuinely curious.

“Save the world, of course,” Root said with a smile as she drew to full height, “I keep telling you, Sameen. We’re on the same team. One day you and your Batfriends will realize that.”

And with a peck on Shaw’s cheek, Root turned around and made for the exit of the building and Shaw tried very hard not to stare at her leaving.

“I doubt that.” Shaw muttered to herself.

“I’ll see you later tonight.” Root called as she opening the door, not even bothering to turn around.

“I’ll tase you if I do.” Shaw called back, only a little serious.

“I look forward to it.” Root responded with a laugh.

And with a final wave, the door slammed shut and silence filled the air. Shaw took in the cool air and the peace and wondered, not for the first time, why she didn’t just arrest Root like she should have, like Reese would have. She sighed and checked her watch again, _5:05am_. It was almost dawn which meant that Shaw had hours to become the prim and proper daughter of a senator.

She was _really_ getting too old for this shit.

* * *

If it was possible, Shaw’s day was even worse than her night.

A few seconds after getting home she received a call from an unknown number which meant it was either Root or Reese’s secretive colleague, Finch. To her disappointment, it was the latter which meant a few minutes of getting chewed out by a guy who barely left his home and trying to explain the circumstances of how she let Root get away _again_. Shaw mumbled through the call before hanging up with a curt _“I don’t work for you, stop calling me_ ” _._ She sighed and stripped out of her costume, heading into the shower to enjoy the only bit of genuine peace she got anymore. Her stepmother’s party was at seven which meant Shaw had to be there by five to suffer the ritual two hours of questioning and fussing.

She hissed as the cold water hit her back, the time between her two masks was getting shorter and shorter but the one thing Shaw could say for certain was that the one she wore during the day was way, _way_ worse.

* * *

“Sameen, so glad you could finally join us! And only ten minutes late, is that a new record for you?”

Her stepmother was a career politician and whatever appeal her father saw was completely lost on Shaw. His remarriage was a point of contention between the two of them but it was one Shaw didn’t broach, knowing it was one of the things they would forever disagree on. Only for him, she played the role of the bitchy, entitled socialite that Gotham expected; one that would never fuck girls on the regular and one that _certainly_ would never dress up as a bat and thwart criminals in her downtime.

“Is that what you’re wearing today, sweetie? It’s a dinner and I thought I said no more black, it makes you look butch and we don’t need people suspecting…” The rest of her stepmother’s words were drowned by her ringtone, indicating a call which she immediately took to Shaw’s immense relief.

“Sameen,” Her father’s voice called out from somewhere behind her and Shaw’s back immediately stiffened, “Where were you this morning?”

Shaw tried hard to avoid his gaze as he moved beside her. He knew about the superhero deal and was generally okay with the whole thing. The whole thing excluding the making out with insane supervillains part.

“Signal went up, followed a lead and it went nowhere. Nothing to report, sir.” She said confidently, staring straight ahead at her stepmother fussing over an ice sculpture.

Her father stood in silence for a few moments as if he was about to call her bluff. Finally, he nodded and turned around to the large hall.

“Be nicer to your stepmother and please _try_ tonight. For me.” Without another word he walked off and Shaw bit her lip to stop herself from responding.

Instead she took in the large, empty banquet hall and suppressed a sigh. In a few hours it would be filled with people who were as fake and as entitled as her stepmother; people who she had to fit in with for the sake of her cover.

It was a thought that made her long for Arkham Asylum.

* * *

Four hours in and Shaw was ready to throw a smoke bomb.

The night was filled with Gotham’s richest, all smiling and laughing and pretending as if they didn’t hate each other, as if they didn’t hate her. She spent her time being photographed or dragged around by her stepmother and introduced to wealthy businessmen who all looked like they were cut from the same greasy, smug cloth and all leered at her shamelessly within a minute of their introduction. She saw John for half a second, long enough for him to smirk at her before he was pulled away by a mob of people dying to kiss his ass.

That bastard.

She found momentary peace when her stepmother made for the mayor and Shaw took the opportunity to sneak away to a corner of the hall. She only managed to close her eyes and take a few breaths of air before the serenity was shattered.

“Champagne?”

Shaw sighed and didn’t bother to open her eyes to acknowledge the waitress, it was rude but Socialite Sameen Shaw was rude.

“No thank you.” She gritted out, trying and failing to quell a headache.

“Are you sure? It’s quite divine, I’ve had a few glasses myself.”

She felt the woman step closer to whisper the last part and Shaw furrowed her brows; this woman was either way more drunk than she let on or a really unprofessional waitress. Opening her eyes, Shaw realized it was actually neither of those two options and yet somehow worse than both.

“Root.” Shaw grounded out.

“Surprise.” She responded with a grin.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing here?” Shaw whispered angrily, stepping closer towards Root, unaware of the growing number of eyes on them.

“Relax, I told you I’d stop by. I could resist seeing you in that dress.” Root said, her eyes dropping to roam over Shaw’s form fitting dress. Shaw also glanced at Root’s ensemble which consisted of the standard white shirt, black pants uniform of the caterers which meant she either had it lying around or there was a naked and unconscious (or worse) waitress somewhere in the building. That thought brought Shaw back to the present and the idea of having the most widely notorious supervillain inside her family home was only a little disconcerting without the fact that the most widely notorious vigilante was _also_ here.

 _That_ thought sprung her into action as she grabbed Root’s hand and dragged her through the hall, hugging the walls and scanning the crowd for Reese. Thankfully he appeared to be outside and Shaw managed to get Root and herself to the top of the staircase with only the judgmental glare of her stepmother following her. She stormed down the hallway into the empty library, noting that Root had abandoned the tray of champagne somewhere along the way and feeling a little annoyed that she didn’t get a glass.

“So…now that we’re somewhere more private.” Root said, walking towards Shaw slowly with a smile.

“Are you ever not on?” Shaw asked annoyed as she locked the door behind her.

“Not after our little rendezvous was cut short this morning I’m afraid,” Root got into Shaw’s space, her lips pressed against Shaw’s ear as she whispered, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

Shaw shivered as Root took her hand and led it to the front of her pants; she cupped Root between her legs and inhaled sharply at the heat she felt there.

“Root…this can’t happen right now.” Shaw said, her hand stationary.

“Why not?”

“Half of Gotham is out there.”

“They can’t hear anything over their own mingling.”

“John Reese is out there.”

“The Batman is far less efficient without his owner in his ear.”

“Root...”

Shaw’s words were cut off with the press of Root’s lips against hers, which was a small miracle because the press of Root’s body against hers melted away any motivation to continue arguing. Shaw reached up with both hands, grabbing the top of Root’s shirt and pulling hard, sending buttons flying everywhere and Root gasping into her mouth. Without breaking contact, Shaw turned them around and pressed Root against the door before moving her lips to Root’s neck and sucking a harsh mark over her pulse point. The idea of marking up one of Gotham’s most wanted was far more of a turn on than she expected, she wondered if people would even believe it was the Batwoman who left it there.

Shaw’s thoughts were derailed by Root’s breathy moans which grew in pitch and frequency with every successive bite at her neck. Hurriedly, Shaw unzipped Root’s pants and shoved a hand inside her underwear, finding Root as warm and inviting as she felt from the outside. She pulled back from Root’s neck to watch her expression as she brushed over her clit; Root’s eyes fluttered shut and she bit her lip to contain what should’ve been an amazing sound. Determined, Shaw pressed harder against Root, rubbing slowly before slipping lower and waiting. Root opened her eyes and, still biting her lip, nodded in the affirmative. Smirking, Shaw positioned two fingers and pressed up into Root, causing her to lose the tenuous grasp on her lip and let out the addictive whimper Shaw was promised. She kept a steady rhythm from there, wanting to draw Root out as far as she could. Every so often, she’d press a thumb to Root’s clit and feel her overwhelmed body shiver. For all her talk, Root was fairly quiet when they got down to it, unless of course she was somehow in a position of power above Shaw, then she would never shut up. Which was why Shaw enjoyed the moments like these.

“Sameen. _Please_.”

Shaw smirked and continued at her place.

“Just…one thing, Root,” she said, pinching a nipple with her free hand, “what did you need the stolen Decima parts for?”

Root’s answer was a groan as Shaw slowed her ministrations to an agonizing pace. As she came to the realization that Shaw wouldn’t continue until she answered, she dropped her head back against the door.

“You’re not playing very fair now, Sameen.” She said, trying and failing to gain some much needed friction against Shaw’s hand.

“Would you prefer being suspended over a building?” Shaw asked, enjoying a truly desperate Root.

“Would I get to come?” Root snarked back, getting increasingly frustrated.

Shaw let out an actual, genuine laugh and pressed a thumb against Root’s clit.

“Maybe when you give me my answers.”

Root grunted and closed her eyes.

“Decima were trying to create another AI.”

“And your one doesn’t like the competition.”

“Not one that’s made for evil, no. Now can you please-”

Root’s sentence cut off with a gasp as Shaw pressed back into her, the pace knocking the air out of her lungs and causing her to cry out loud enough for probably the entire house to hear. Shaw grinned, enjoying Root’s position at her mercy, knowing how much it was pissing her off (and how bad her payback would be later). Root grabbed at Shaw's forearm, her nails digging into her flesh as if to prevent Shaw from stopping once again. Not that she had any intention to, Shaw pressed against Root’s clit right as she bit at Root’s neck, speeding up the pace of her wrist, acutely aware of her own arousal at watching Root come undone. She wondered if Root would return the favor afterwards, not sure how annoyed she would be with Shaw’s interrogation techniques. Then again, she was pretty sure if she even implied that she would fuck someone else at the party, Root would mark her up enough for all of Gotham to see.

Her thoughts spiraled out of control when Root let out a _“God, Sameen…”_ and shuddered so intensely that Shaw grabbed her waist with one hand and pushed her against the door to hold her up. Which was a good idea as Root’s knees went out somewhere in the aftershocks and Shaw was stuck pressing her against the door with a hand still trapped inside her pants, no longer inside Root but still idly pressing at her clit.

When Root’s breathing had evened out (after she forcibly removed Shaw’s hand and cleaned it in a way that almost made Shaw come on the spot) they separated with an awkward glance. Previously, their trysts had been reserved for alley ways and rooftops, far from any prying eyes or cameras; Shaw realized it was the first time they had sex without the cover of darkness or a mask, her stomach churned uncomfortably with the thought. There was also the problem of her intense arousal and seeing Root in her disheveled state with dilated pupils and a bruised mouth made Shaw forget all thought altogether.

That was the reasoning behind what she said next.

“Come over to my place later.”

Root blinked at her for a few seconds.

“Why, Batwoman, are you inviting a known criminal into your inner sanctum?”

“You said it yourself, we're on the same team. And we can hash out the details of whatever plan you and your Machine are cooking up later but for now,” Shaw moved into Root’s space, stealing a page out of her play book, “I really need you to make me come.”

Root took in a deep breath before her next answer.

“And if I’m not feeling particularly generous after the stunt you pulled earlier?”

Shaw grinned in response, doing up the bottom-most button (and the only one left) on Root’s shirt before straightening her collar.

“Then I’ll expect the handcuffs.” She said with a smirk.

Root smiled in response and leaned down to kiss her and Shaw knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that her night just got even longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt box is open. araxxes.tumblr.com/ask


End file.
